Learning to Fly
by lindachelle
Summary: Lois has something important to say to Clark but he's not paying attention and she winds up getting a little distracted herself.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Takes place just after Idol.**

**Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, just borrowed:)**

Clark's POV

Lois Lane had kissed him. Right there in the middle of the copy room at the Daily Planet. Clark was still in shock. Granted, he kissed her first and not in the copy room; he'd kissed her in the middle of the bull pen with tons of people watching. But then she kissed him. He couldn't get that kiss out of his mind.

Clark set the bale of hay he'd carried up to it's place in the barn and sighed. He had decided not to use his powers while doing his chores today. He'd already broken three fence posts that he'd been trying to fix and had to just completely replace them. He didn't want to wind up with a hole in the wall of the barn. The truth was that he was too distracted to get anything done without totally focusing on it. But now that the farm was taken care of for the day, his focus was right back where he didn't want it to be.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to want Lois like this. He'd never planned on falling in love with her.

Walking out of the barn, Clark wandered up to the porch and leaned against the rail--just staring out over the field. He was so lost in thought that he never heard the car come up the drive; he never heard the door slam or the footsteps up the stairs. But he did hear her voice.

"Hey, Smallville."

Truly surprised, Clark spun around. She always looked amazing, but standing right there with the sun beginning to lower behind her, she took his breath away.

"Lois. Hi. Umm. What's...what's up?" Silently cursing himself for sounding like, in Lois' terms, an ignorant farm hand, he tried to be casual by leaning against the railing again.

"Well, Chloe and I had a girls' night planned for tonight...you know, chocolate, wine, George Clooney movies...but she had to bail so I figured I would come out here and just chill with my favorite farm boy." Her words came out in such a rush that Clark had a hard time deciphering what she was saying. "But if you're busy, which you probably are because, hey, it's a farm, I can just go. You know what? I'm just gonna do that. This was a bad idea. I'm gonna go."

She was nervous. Clark couldn't remember a time when he'd seen her nervous. He'd seen her scared, amused, angry, and often smug but never nervous. His stomach gave a little jump. _What if she's here just to see me?_

"Lois, wait." She had turned and was halfway to her car before Clark caught up to her and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I'm not busy. I actually just finished right before you got here. And you didn't have a girls' night planned with Chloe because she's in New York right now at a tech conference for Oliver. So what are you really doing here?"

"Okay. You caught me. I just needed a reason to come out here. Kind of, working up my courage, you know."

"Lois, you've never needed a reason to come out here. You know that. So, What's really going on?" He could almost see her mind working; her eyes searching his face, chewing on the inside of her lip while she decided what to say to him. Watching her face, Clark waited, knowing she had her thoughts together when she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.

"Alright." Lois opened her eyes and found his. "I'm just gonna say it all and you can't interrupt. You have to wait till I'm done. Okay?"

"Lois, I don't...."

"You have to promise, Clark."

"Okay. I promise--I'll be quiet."

"Okay. Good." Taking a step back, Lois began to pace back and forth in front of him. "I guess I should start with this shrink I've been talking to--"

"You're seeing a therapist?!"

She stopped pacing and glared at him. "You promised!"

"Sorry. Not another word."

Lois began pacing again.

"Anyway. I've been talking to this shrink...mostly about you. About the fact that I think about you. A lot. I mean, it's been there for a while but ever since that blind date fiasco for the news station and when you kissed me in the bull pen it just became this huge deal." She sucked in another large breath and kept going. "So I was talking to this shrink about it and she said that I was maybe looking for problems with possibilities. Sort of sabotaging myself and things before they even got started. And then I told her how I thought you were the Blur..."

Clark stiffened a little at that but then relaxed again when Lois kept talking.

"...and she said that I was trying to make you my dream guy. That I was putting you and the Blur together because I wanted to make you my own personal hero." Lois turned toward Clark and took a few steps forward, placing herself right in front of him.

"And then, when you showed me those ridiculous glasses, I realized something: I don't need to make you anything. Clark, you're already my own personal hero. You stepped out onto that ledge for me; you've saved me from myself so many times I've lost count. I realized that you are my dream guy. And that's why I kissed you."

Clark couldn't believe what he was hearing. All of the hours he'd spent going over in his mind what to do about how he felt and how he wanted Lois to feel, agonizing over whether or not to separate himself from her because he didn't want to jeopardize either of them--none of that mattered anymore. She was standing right there telling him that she wanted him. Wanted Clark. Not the Blur, but Clark.

He could see Lois' mouth moving, still talking, but he couldn't make out the words over the pounding of his heart. Seeing her there, saying all the things he'd tried to convince himself he didn't want to hear, Clark's instincts took over. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him and stopped her mouth with his.

Clark felt her stiffen, a momentary shock before she relaxed into him and wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. He couldn't say how long they stood there but he felt the earth shift under him as he drew Lois even closer. It was like an explosion of sensation as he felt every touch of her fingers through his hair and the soft sound of her gasp as she pulled slightly back.

He leaned his forehead on hers and closed his eyes but opened them in alarm when her heard her soft exclamation.

"Clark...we're floating!"

**Lois' POV to come. Constructive criticism welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Lois' POV_

"Breathe, Lois, breathe. It's just Clark." Lois muttered to herself as she made the familiar turns toward the Kent Farm; turns she'd made a thousand times but now held a significance that they hadn't had before. "Yeah, right. There is no _just Clark_ anymore."

She couldn't get him out of her head. She was always thinking about him in some way, whether it was about working with him, talking with him...kissing him. Thinking of those two kisses in the bullpen, Lois took a sharp intake of breath. Kissing Clark was probably the last thing she should have done while at work but he'd kissed her first, so really it was only fair that she kiss him. And there was something about kissing him that she couldn't put her finger on--it was almost familiar.

"Oh, get a grip." Scoffing at herself, Lois rolled her eyes and made her final turn onto the driveway. Purposefully, Lois slowed the car to a crawl. She'd been prepping her speech the entire drive but still felt uneasy. _Well, of course you're nervous, Lane. You always screw up the relationship game._

Sighing, Lois cut the engine and got out of the car. _Okay, let's do this._ She headed in the direction of the barn when movement by the house caught her eye. He was leaning against the rail on porch with his back to her. He looked so alone. He looked like a guy with the world on his shoulders.

He looked really great in those jeans.

Rolling her eyes at her own thoughts, Lois straightened her shoulders and began walking toward the porch. When she reached the top step, her courage faltered. She turned and almost walked back down the steps. _Stop it, Lane. You're here for a reason so just get it over with. _She turned around, took the last step and a deep breath.

"Hey, Smallville."

He whirled around so fast, startling Lois so that she had to stop herself from taking an automatic step backward.

"Lois. Hi. Umm. What's...what's up?" He leaned against the rail again, as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"Well, Chloe and I had a girls' night planned for tonight...you know, chocolate, wine, George Clooney movies...but she had to bail so I figured I would come out here and just chill with my favorite farm boy."_Lie, lie, lie. _ "But if you're busy, which you probably are because, hey, it's a farm, I can just go. You know what? I'm just gonna do that. This was a bad idea. I'm gonna go."

_Oh God. Get out of here; leave before you make a complete idiot of yourself. Save whatever dignity you have left._ _Just go_. Lois pivoted around and had almost made it to her car before she felt his hand on her arm.

"Lois, wait."He pulled gently on her arm, turning her until she was facing him. "I'm not busy. I actually just finished right before you got here. And you didn't have a girls' night planned with Chloe because she's in New York right now at a tech conference for Oliver. So what are you really doing here?"

_Busted. _"Okay. You caught me. I just needed a reason to come out here. Kind of, working up my courage, you know."

Clark looked confused. "Lois, you've never needed a reason to come out here. You know that. So, What's really going on?"

Lois closed her eyes. _Here it is, Lane: the moment of truth. Tell him. Do it like a band-aid. _"Alright," she said, opening her eyes. "I'm just gonna say it all and you can't interrupt. You have to wait till I'm done. Okay?"

"Lois, I don't...."

"You have to promise, Clark." _Don't be difficult, Smallville._

"Okay. I promise--I'll be quiet."

"Okay. Good." She needed to move, needed to get rid of some of the nervous energy that was coursing through her. "I guess I should start with this shrink I've been talking to--"

"You're seeing a therapist?!"

"You promised!"

"Sorry. Not another word."

"Anyway." _Band-aid. Think Band-aid._ "I've been talking to this shrink...mostly about you. About the fact that I think about you. A lot. I mean, it's been there for a while but ever since that blind date fiasco for the news station and when you kissed me in the bull pen it just became this huge deal."Lois could feel the words rushing out of her but was powerless to stop or even slow them. It was as if she'd opened the flood gates and now everything was pouring out as fast as it could. She took a deep breath, looked him in the eyes and kept going.

"So I was talking to this shrink about it and she said that I was maybe looking for problems with possibilities. Sort of sabotaging myself and things before they even got started. And then I told her how I thought you were the Blur and she said that I was trying to make you my dream guy. That I was putting you and the Blur together because I wanted to make you my own personal hero.

"And then, when you showed me those ridiculous glasses, I realized something: I don't need to make you anything. Clark, you're already my own personal hero. You stepped out onto that ledge for me; you've saved me from myself so many times I've lost count. I realized that you are my dream guy. And that's why I kissed you."

Clark looked shell shocked, like she'd just hit him over the head with one of his fence posts. _Great_, she thought_. Here I am pouring my heart out and he looks like he wants nothing more than for me to shut up. This was such a bad idea, Lane, but you might as well see it through._ "So, what I'm trying to say, Clark, in my round about and deficient way is that...," she took another deep breath, "I think I'm in love with you.

"Actually, I know I'm in love with you. I probably have been for years and just haven't had the guts to 'fess up to it. But I want you to know that I'm not expecting anything from you. I just needed you to know how I felt and that it's okay if you're not okay with it or if this is just way too much, way too soon. In fact, we never have to be anything more than friends if you wanna just pretend that this whole monologue of mine didn't happen." Lois could hear herself talking and wanted desperately to be able to take back everything she'd just said. _Jeez,_ _I sound like a whiney teenager on a soap opera. Or worse, a Taylor Swift song. _

And he was still just staring at her.

"Anytime you feel like saying something, Smallville. I'd hate to think I've just been talking to myse--" She was in his arms with his mouth on hers before she could finish her thought.

Twisting her arms around his neck and threading her fingers through his hair, she eagerly returned the kiss and enjoyed the feel of his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer to him. This was where she wanted to be, this is what felt right even though her knees were weak and she didn't seem to have solid footing....

She couldn't feel the ground beneath her. Gently pulling back from Clark, Lois opened her eyes and gasped as she immediately realized why she couldn't feel the ground: she wasn't on it.

"Clark...we're floating!"

Clark's eyes shot open and immediately his jaw dropped, along with both of them. It wasn't a long fall, just a few feet, but was enough to have Clark stumbling backward drawing Lois down on top of his chest. For a few moments neither of them said anything and then Lois pushed herself up, flipped her hair out of her face, stared Clark right in the eyes and spoke, "Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do."

**AN: Apologies to Taylor Swift fans; no offense was meant, it just seemed like something Lois would say.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one:) I always love hearing from you. Let me know what you think of this chapter**.


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